Bouquet-holder



(No Model.) lLM. JOHNSTON. BOUQUET HOLDER; No. 568,114. Patented Sept.22, 1896,

messes.' Y M. y/im NiTED 'STATES afrnNfr .FFICE BOUQUET-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 568,114, datedSeptember 22, 1896..

Application iiled April ZS, 1896. Serial No. 588,706. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN M. JOHNSTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented a new and useful BouquebHolder, of which thefollowing is a specification. j

p The object of my invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive, andveryconvenient appliance, which is adapted for wearing-apparel, to holdboutonnieres and other bouquets.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure l is a front view of a coat-lapel provided with my invention.Dotted lines indicate portions of my invention which are obscured by thefront layer of the fabric of the lapel. Fig. 2 is a view of the reverseside of a coat-lapel provided with my invention. Fig. 3 shows the clampand fastener. Dotted lines show the position of parts when the clamp isopen. Fig. 4 shows a detached fragment of the lapel,illustratin g thepreferred arrangement. Fig. 5 is a vertical section showing thebouquet-holder in use.` Fig. 6 is a front view of a fragment of acoat-lapel with an ordinary buttonhole and having the fastener behindthe same. Dotted lines indicate the position of the fastener at the backof the y lapel.

My invention embraces a bouquet-holder comprising a spring-clamp A,having eyes d d on its jaws, and an attaching-bar b passed through sucheyes and provided with any suitable means for attachment to a garment.

The bouquet-holder clamp A which I have invented is composed of aspring-wire having an intermediate coil d" and two limbs formed in twoloops a'" 60", which are normally divergent, and with the terminalsl 2of such limbs passed through the coil a and extending therefrom oppositethe loops af" to form the joints of the clamp, and each provided at itsend with eyes a a. The

fastener which I preferably employ to fasten the clamp to the garmentconsists of a safetypin B, having its body-wire b passed through thesaid eyes, whereby the joints of the clamp are slidingly attached to thesaid bar or bodywire b. This appliance can be attached on the under sideof an ordinary coat-lapel C, the

safety-pin being fastened to the lapel O above the buttonhole c, thus tobring the jaws 1 2.

oi' the clamp across the buttonhole. Then, to put a bouquet in place,the handles d'" 60" are pressed together, thus opening the jaws, andthen the stem of the bouquet is inserted through thebuttonhole andbetween the jaws.

. Then the jaws are allowed to spring together, `and the bouquet isthereby securely held in place.

My invention comprises the combination,

. with the buttonholeefastener above described,

of a lapel of peculiar structure which I will now describe.

The bouquet-holder thus formed comprises a front layer 3 of fabrichaving a stem-receiv ing hole 4 of suitable form, a back layer of fabric5, fastened to the front layer and provided with holes 6 7,respectively, for thejaws and handles of the clamp. The hole 6 for thejaws of the clamp is preferably of a circular form, as shown, and isarranged irnmediately behind the bouquet-stem hole 4, and suchbouquetstem hole is preferably in the form of a right-angle cross, thusto easily admittlie stems of a bouquet of any desired size. The hole 7for the handles of the clamp is a horizontal slit, made at the properplace beneath the hole 6, which is provided for the jaws, th us leavinga strap 5 between the hole 6 and the hole 7.

In practice the fastener is attached with the bar above the hole 4 forthe stems, and the jaws are passed through the hole 6 and the handlesthrough the hole 7 with the coil d underneath the strap 5, whereby theclamp is held in the right position behind the hole 4 which is toreceive the stem of the bouquet.

Instead of the strap 5, which is shown in Figs. 2 and 4, a strap may besewed to the under side of the lapel, as indicated by dotted lines at 5in Fig. 6, thus to hold the handles of the clamp from swinging when theholder is not in use holding a bouquet.

' XVhile my invention is more vparticularly designed to be applied tothe lapels of coats it is to be understood that the fastener or clamp isadapted to be applied to any part of the garment, or it may be fastenedto any fabric, and the bouquet thus fastened in any position whereverdesired.

The lapel or other part of the garment,

IOO

which is included inmy-invention, comprises the outer layer 3 of fabric,provided with the bouquet-stemreceiving hole of a cross form, and aninner layer of fabric 5, provided with a hole arranged behind the cross,conforming in size approximately to the size of the cross, and a holearranged at a distance from the hole which is behind the cross to allowthe handles of the clamp to be passed therethrough, so that asecuring-strap, such as 5', is left between the two holes, and the jawsand the handles are left free to be operated, while the clamp issecurely held in place by the strap 5 and the bar l), which is fastenedto the back layer of cloth, as set forth.

By the cross arrangement of the front hole I enable any one to insertthe stem of the bouquet with much greater ease than with any other formof hole which will close neatly when the bouquet is not in place.

The intermediate coil a holds the limbs of the clamp in proper positionand also provides a suitable spring for holding` the jaws together. Thelimbs may be twisted, as at am 64", to form the handles, but, ifdesired, thehandles may be of any other suitable form.

Now, having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

l. A bouquet-holder comprising an attaching-bar provided with means forattachment to a garment; and a clamp composed of jaws connected togetherat one end by a spring and provided at their free ends with eyesarranged on the bar to slide therealong toward and from each other.

2. A bouquet-holder clamp composed ol' a spring-wire having anintermediate coil and its two limbs formed in two loops which arenormally divergent, with the terminals of such limbs passed through thecoil and eX- tending therefrom opposite the loops to form the jaws ofthe clamp, and each provided at its end with an eye.

3. A bouquet-holder comprising a clamp composed of a spring-wire havingan Aintermediate coil and its two limbs formed in two loops which arenormally divergent, with the terminals of such limbs passed through thecoil and extending therefrom opposite the loops to form the jaws of theclamp and each provided at its end with an eye; and a safetypin havingits body-wire passed through the said eyes.

4. rlhe combination of afront layer of fabric having a stem-receivinghole; a back layer of fabric fastened to the front layer and providedwith holes, respectively, for the jaws and handles of a clamp; a barfastened to the fabric; and a clamp with handles arranged through one ofsuch holes and jaws arranged through the other of such holes andslidingly connected with said bar.

JOHN M. JOHNSTON.

Vitnesses:

JAMES R. TowNsEND, ALFRED I. TowNsEND.

